Thanks to the technology of the Internet, everyone can have access to all sorts of games in the Internet. Casino lovers can find virtual casinos online. People who love shooting matches can play first person shooters through the Internet. Of course, RPGs are in full force these days in the World Wide Web.

How about sports games? Of course, there are plenty of choices when it comes to this genre when you take your gaming online. Are you interested in playing pool but is too timid to try it out in a real billiards bar? This is your lucky day, because there are games on Facebook and other websites that allow you to play a virtual game pool against an AI opponent, or against real people playing with their computers.

No problem if you’re already experienced in the game. All you actually need to do is to learn the controls, and you’re all set to play. However, it’s a different story for beginners, or people who have no actual experience at all with playing pool

The first thing you need to find out is that there are two kinds of pool – the nine-ball pool or the eight-ball pool. The differences between the two are major, and go beyond just a difference in the number of balls played.

Let us talk about nine-ball first.

Nine-ball is the simplest to understand. You have 9 balls that are serially numbered from 1-9, as you would surmise by now. The goal here is to pocket all balls from 1 until 9, also in a serial manner. This means that you are to send the 2-ball to the pocket only after you have pocketed the 1-ball. Hitting the wrong ball will cause a foul and will give the turn over to your opponent.

There are exceptions to this rule. If you somehow find, for example, that the 9-ball can be pocketed by hitting it with the ball that you are supposed to hit, then that’s technically a non-foul. Also, if you are able to pocket the 9-ball using that arrangement early in the game, the game concludes and you win it.

Hitting no ball is a foul, as well as driving the cue ball straight into a pocket. This also turns over the game to your opponent.

8-ball pool, on the other hand, utilizes a group of 15 balls. One group has a stripe down the middle, while the other group is similar in appearance to the balls used in 9-ball pool. At the start of the game, one player is required to call which group he is going to assign himself to. He is then required to call a ball from that group and attempt to pocket it. If he pockets said ball, then he gets that group and his opponent, the other.

The only odd ball in here is the 8-ball. Both players can attempt to pocket the 8-ball, but all other balls in their respective groups must be pocketed first. They can, however, spot the 8-ball using a ball that he or she is legally attempting to pocket from the group.

The rules of hitting the wrong ball, hitting no ball and scratching apply to 8-ball as well.

It’s not really difficult to master either 9-ball or 8-ball pool. Online games give you the unique opportunity of having complete anonymity when playing, making them great opportunities for you to learn how to play the game without being stressed by other players.